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AP: Blackwater Patched Trucks, Destroying Key Evidence
Boy, this thing was rigged from the get-go. From the AP:
Blackwater Worldwide repaired and repainted its trucks immediately after a deadly September shooting in Baghdad, making it difficult to determine whether enemy gunfire provoked the attack, according to people familiar with the government's investigation of the incident.Damage to the vehicles in the convoy has been held up by Blackwater as proof that its security guards were defending themselves against an insurgent ambush when they fired into a busy intersection, leaving 17 Iraqi civilians dead.
U.S. military investigators initially found "no enemy activity involved" and the Iraqi government concluded the shootings were unprovoked.
The repairs essentially destroyed evidence that Justice Department investigators hoped to examine in a criminal case that has drawn worldwide attention.
Blackwater's explanation for the repairs is that they were done at the "government's direction" -- meaning the State Department. That's a sadly credible claim, given that the State Department offered limited immunity to the Blackwater guards involved in the September 16th shootings that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead. If State really did direct Blackwater to repair those trucks, it would mean that they made two different crucial moves immediately following the shootings that dramatically undercut the possibility of a criminal prosecution.
Comments (6)
Billy Pilgrim wrote on January 14, 2008 11:33 AM:Of course the white kid glove treatment for the Blackwater thugs. They are carefully being groomed by Dick-Tater for palace goons.
moondancer wrote on January 14, 2008 11:37 AM:No matter who ordered the repair, it belies the already weak defense of the Blackwater thugs. If there was a shred of truth to their version of the events, the one piece of corroborating evidence was the vehicles. By abetting in destruction of the evidence, Condi Rice has proved Blackwater and the State Department guilty of murder.
JA wrote on January 14, 2008 12:02 PM:A little tin-foil hat here, but anyone else think that Blackwater is just training in Iraq so they can come back here and "help" keep peace during the presidential elections?
foggylady wrote on January 14, 2008 12:17 PM:I know that's far fetched, but I really don't see Bushco giving up power anytime soon.
JA...
lots of increasing chatter on the web about the same idea, and of course we are all being called paranoid for thinking of it.
One more clue wrote on January 14, 2008 1:39 PM:Just like so many folks here were called paranoid for thinking that Bush/Chaney were ignoring the Constitution, or were developing a fascist state, or were planning to permanently occupy Iraq , or were after the oil, or....................
JA wrote on January 14, 2008 12:02 PM:
A little tin-foil hat here, but anyone else think that Blackwater is just training in Iraq so they can come back here and "help" keep peace during the presidential elections?
I know that's far fetched, but I really don't see Bushco giving up power anytime soon.
moondancer wrote on January 14, 2008 3:45 PM:Now why exactly would you think your idea is "far fetched". Have you never heard the saying: "even if a man is paranoid, it doesn't mean that *somebody* is not out to get him".
JA
I think they are planning for the long haul, and that would be to replace state militia. They need a GOP govt to do it, so they will bide their time.
Short term they hope to become the paid border patrol, "relieving" the national guard on rotation down there.
This is an evil group, led by an evil man.
Look for wealthy fascists to "hire" them and deploy them at emergency scenes like tornadoes and hurricanes to get the sheep used to them being in the flock.